Formula One News — October 2004

Audi AG has decided that it wants to sell Cosworth Technology, its high technology drivetrain company. This is now unrelated to Cosworth Racing, the racing division having been old to Ford by Audi for $150m back in 1998.

The FIA World Motor Sport Council met in Paris today to discuss the matters of the moment and voted to fine the Hyundai Motor Company $1m for missing four events of the 2003 FIA World Rally Championship and then failing to pay the required financial penalty.

The US Senate has just passed the new Corporate Tax Bill which cuts taxes for a number of industry sectors including the race track owners who will benefit from tax breaks.

Today the FIA issued what could be a very drafty draft of the Formula 1 calendar for next season and the British Grand Prix is on it, albeit with a provisional status, pending an agreement between the parties involved.

The FIA World Council has voted through a Formula 1 calendar for next year, but there are no guarantees that things will not change again.

The Indy Racing League champion Tony Kanaan was like many other young Brazilians and left his home country to build up his racing career in Europe. In 1995 he finished fifth in the Italian Formula 3 series, a period in during which he would often visit Grands Prix with his friend Rubens Barrichello.

Marc Gene seems to be on the move after four year with the BMW Williams team. The 30-year-old from Sabadell is rumoured to be on his way to Ferrari although the team is not believed to be planning to split with Luca Badoer, the 33-year-old who has been testing for Ferrari for five seasons.

Former double World Champion Mika Hakkinen decided some time ago that he wanted to get back into racing but the Formula 1 circus showed only lukewarm interest in the idea.

The Federation Internationale de l'Automobile this evening celebrates its 100th anniversary with a gala dinner in the Louvre museum in Paris with the federation having invited as many World Champions as it can gather in addition to all the major personalities in the sport.

Alexander Shnaider is the man behind the recently-announced Midland F1 team. Born in St Petersburg in Russia, the 36-year-old left the country almost immediately with his parents and settled in Israel where he grew up.

Paul Stoddart made the point quite well in Suzuka. There are a lot of peple who talk about buying Formula 1 teams but there are not many who are really serious when they fnd out the figures.

Mark Webber will begin testing for the Williams team in November as a deal has been struck between the team and Webber's current employer Jaguar Racing.

The passage of Typhoon Ma-on in Japan was an amusement for most of Formula 1 but it may have handed Bernie Ecclestone the ammunition he needs to increase the Formula 1 calendar by reducing the number of days spent at each event.

Bernie Ecclestone's desire to squeeze more and more money out of the race promoters is something of a mystery and many people see it simply as greed. However, there are more logical explanations for Ecclestone's unwillingness to compromise. One can argue, for example, that Formula 1 is underpriced.

The games over the British Grand Prix have continued with FIA President Max Mosley saying that he wants Silverstone on the Formula 1 calendar.

Toyota motorsport boss Tsutomu Tomita took the opportunity at Suzuka to gently warn Benie Ecclestone that the fees he is trying to charge race promoters are too high. Toyota is currently redeveloping the Fuji International Speedway and will be challenging Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix in 2007.

Japanese GP - Race Report

Japanese GP - Race Notes

Japanese GP - Sunday Photos

Japanese GP - Sunday Press Conference

Japanese GP - Race incidents from Suzuka

Japanese GP - Race Results

Sherlock Holmes, Philip Marlowe, Lord Peter Wimsey, Miss Marple, Hercules Poirot, Inspector Jules Maigret and even Endeavour Morse would have failed to unravel the truth about qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. It was simply beyond even the best detectives to know what was going on.

Japanese GP - Qualifying Press Conference

Japanese GP - Qualifying Results